Tapo C200 is the latest affordable WiFi security camera from TP-Link with pan and tilt function and a great app experience.



This is a summarized version of the review, you can see my blog here for more photos.

Specs:

Video Resolution	1080p 15fps (H.264)
Wall Mount	Yes
Night Vision	IR flood light up to 30 ft
Audio	Microphone and Speaker
WiFi Specs	802.11n 2.4Ghz up to 150Mbps

Image Sensor: 1/2.9“
Lens: F/NO: 2.4; Focal Length: 4mm
Night Vision: 850 nm IR LED up to 30 ft
View Range: 360° horizontal, 114° vertical

Price: RM169

Unboxing and Accessories


The camera come with a simple box with a power adapter. The power cable is really long at 3m.
It is possible to wall mount the WiFi camera with 2 screws.


The MicroSD card slot and reset button is under the camera lens. You need to move the lens to see them.

Tapo Camera App Features

The app is easy to use and have all the features labeled clearly.

You can click the record or snapshot button and it will be saved to your phone immediately.


There are plenty of options available to configure. The firmware update can be managed from the Tapo Camera app as well.

It has a power LED which can be disabled if you prefer a more discrete look


You can even have a voice call with the camera or use the push to talk feature. The speaker and microphone is really loud and clear in my testing.


Of course, there is the pan and tilt control from the app. You can even mark position and get the camera to move to the location on one click.

The pan and tilt is very smooth and not jerky unlike some cheaper camera.

This post has been edited by blacktubi: Oct 7 2019, 01:33 PM

Video Recording Feature


The Tapo C200 can be configured to have continuous recording or only record a video when it detects a motion. It is very simply to setup using the scheduling function.

You can choose which zones you want the motion detection to function. The detection is sensitive in our testing and it seems to be able to differentiate between action motion and lighting changed.

Motion Alert

When a motion is detected, it will send a notification to your phone. The notification can be disabled.

Playback Function

The playback feature is also really good as it shows you in a timeline format and only highlight the time where motion is detection.

Playback is really smooth and download speed is decent.

This post has been edited by blacktubi: Oct 7 2019, 01:19 PM

Video Quality:


I attached a short clip above for you to judge the quality. The 4mm lens do provide a rather big field of view.

The 1080p image is sharp and good enough for surveillance purpose. However, the fps is capped at 15fps likely for storage, I think it can be higher but 15fps is okay just not great.

Night vision is amazing with the 2 high power IR LED on the camera, you can override the night vision if you want it.

Like all IP camera, there will be a small 1-2 seconds delay depending on your WiFi signal strength and network configuration.


Closing Thoughts

The image is great, I think it's slightly greater than Xiaomi 260. The app is also really easy to setup and works really well. However, it doesn't support object tracking function and that's something I hope that will arrive as a firmware update in the future.

This post has been edited by blacktubi: Oct 7 2019, 05:23 PM

Better than Xiaomi's Mijia 360 h265 1080p 20fps?

I no longer have the Xiaomi to compare side by side but it feels sharper IMO. But, it loses out on fps.

But, one thing for sure is it is definitely better than the Xiaofang.

I edited the original review to reflect this claim.

This post has been edited by blacktubi: Oct 7 2019, 05:28 PM

Alright thanks

What's the difference when compared to the other TP-Link cameras with similar feature such as the NC450? It's even cheaper than the NC260 which can't pan & tilt so I'm kinda confused on what's making this one so cheap.

1. Can you put it outdoor?
2. whats the maximum capacity for the sd card supported?

Are you still using, how's the cloud service? Easy to connect or like xiaomi hard to connect when outside?

The NC450 and NC260 is the old lineup

Tapo is TP-Link new smart home brand.

1) Indoor only
2) Up to 128GB

So far it is pretty reliable. I am using TIME and it works all the time on Celcom.

I have existing TP link cameras (NC220 & 250). Will the C200 be able to be monitored and configured using the existing TP-Link app? I don't want to have to use separate apps...

Got the camera, easy to connect but doesn't seem to have cloud storage to store the clips when motion detected.

Yes it doesn’t come with cloud storage. Only local storage for now.

But you can review recorded footage from the app.

Hi let say there is robber in the house and he stole the camera while robbing the house.

Will we be able to retrieve the footage? Since there is no cloud storage, all the images will be gone once he turn off the camera?

Not possible to retrieve the footage if the camera is stolen as the footage is only stored locally.

This is probably a downside of the Tapo C200 but at the same time, this is probably better in terms of privacy.

Thanks for the info.

Hi,
Can save the video recording to NAS ?

Today flash sale at lazada for only rm100

Can this camera automatically pans around on its own? Or need to press the control on the app? Thanks